Arimis milking jelly

Origin of Arimis milking jelly It was first produced in 1983 in the now Meru-county. In 1985, the product got to Nairobi and was later spread to other parts of the country. For over 30 decades, Arimis has been a Kenyan farmer’s trusted companion especially after dairy farming became a commonplace occupation for many.

The history of the company started in 1983 with one man from Meru by the name Hanish Shah.

Hanish, a father of three, was an O-level graduate who managed a modest retail company selling goods before joining the family business in 1978. He got the concept for Arimi’s after interacting with various German enterprises.

Shah conducted research on the problems faced by small scale farmers in the region at the time and created what he called a high-quality product that was also affordable.

Not many people notice the apostrophe on the name Arimi’s.In many Bantu languages, Arimi means farmer and the apostrophe gives farmers a sense of ownership on the products.

Shah reckons that the popularity of the brand grew gradually through the years through word of mouth from one generation to another.

Due to the success of the jelly, operations were relocated from Meru to Nairobi in 1985, and Arimi’s is now made by Tri-Clover Industries (Kenya) Ltd, of whom Hanish is the managing director.

Surprisingly, the company has never marketed Arimi’s as a skincare product but remains one of its best brands, despite the company producing actual skin care products.

“It is formulated using the best quality of raw materials which are accepted under US FDA approval standard grade as safe to use on skin care, a slightly different formula in comparison to the normal petroleum jelly but 100 per cent safe for human application,” Shah said during a past interview with The Standard.